Canadian Provinces and the Western Climate Initiative: The Constitutionality of Extraordinary Cross-Border Cooperation

The Western Climate Initiative is an extraordinary effort among U.S. states and Canadian provinces to address climate change. Officials in six U.S. states and four Canadian provinces have agreed to cap carbon emissions even though the federal governments of the United States and Canada have yet to do so. This Note focuses on the constitutionality of the Western Climate Initiative under Canadian law, finding the Initiative to be valid even though it imposes burdens on interprovincial commerce and arguably involves provincial conduct of foreign relations.